


Oh child, you make my blood run wild

by goingdownsinging



Category: Haim (Band), One Direction (Band), Radio 1 RPF
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-09
Updated: 2013-12-09
Packaged: 2018-01-04 04:34:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1076589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goingdownsinging/pseuds/goingdownsinging
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>"The thing is, the Haim sisters are always together. When Harry first met them, he was introduced to all three sisters at once and when he’d later offered Danielle something to drink, the other two demanded he get them something as well. Texting Este usually results in a reply from Danielle and the few times Harry tried to get Alana alone, the other two were right there, speaking up before Alana even had a chance to open her mouth. "</i>
</p>
<p>or Harry wants to hold Alana's hand, but first needs to get past her sisters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Oh child, you make my blood run wild

**Author's Note:**

> This has been floating around my laptop for ages and I never knew how to finish it, but here it is. 2700 words of Harry trying to kiss Alana Haim. 
> 
> The title is taken from the Ruen Brothers' 'Blood Run Wild'.

He is definitely not stalking the Haim sisters. Not at all. It's research, that's all it is.

Harry's been telling himself that his obsession with the Haim sisters has everything to do with their music, with the brilliant album that Nick gave him an advance copy of. It has absolutely nothing to do with Alana Haim. Not at all.

\--

"Did you call her yet?" Nick asks Harry on a lazy Sunday afternoon. 

The weather's still alright and Harry and Nick are out with friends, just getting a few drinks and probably forgetting all about dinner until Pixie will be a bit too tipsy, stealing small plates and bowls of olives and peanuts from other tables. It's warm enough to sit outside of a Primrose Hill pub, but cold enough to need a jumper. It's nice and relaxed, and it makes Harry forget about the long, European leg of the world tour that's starting in a week. But when Nick's still looking at him, obviously expecting an answer, Harry frowns in confusion and glances at his pint glass on the table in front of them. His slender fingers are tracing figures in the condensation, but he knows exactly what Nick is talking about.

"You know what I mean, young Harold," Nick states and nudges Harry's shoulder with his own. "Alana. Baby Haim. She asked about you when I saw the girls the other day, you know?" Nick has a wicked grin on his face and Harry tries hard not to look surprised or maybe embarrassed, hoping that the flush on his cheeks isn't too obvious.

"Are you sure it's not you who brought me into the conversation?" Harry says, aiming for lighthearted and teasing, but sounding a bit scared instead. If Nick can tell, then he doesn't mention it and that, Harry thinks, is why they are best friends.

"Preferably live on air," he adds. "You talk about me on a daily basis."

Nick shakes his head and laughs, because he's evil like that. "It was Danielle who asked about you, probably trying to embarrass poor Alana. Then Este joined in and you know what they're like. But it happened off air, so your little romance is still a secret, pop star."

Harry curls his fingers around his glass and raises it to his lips, taking a long drink. He desperately needs it. Probably needs a few more glasses if Nick wants to talk to him about Alana Haim.

"It's not a romance, Grimshaw," he mumbles and it's true. He blames it on the Haim sisters and how perfectly, beautifully intimidating they are. 

\--

Danielle, Este and Alana Haim are something else. They're beautiful and effortlessly cool, all long hair and thick American accents and Harry's been obsessed since Nick first sent him a few songs and introduced him to the girls soon after. He met the girls again in LA, went to a show or two and then saw them again in London, when they were jetlagged and looking completely unaffected by it. Harry is pretty sure that those girls are from another planet in a galaxy far, far away.

The thing is, the Haim sisters are always together. When Harry first met them, he was introduced to all three sisters at once and when he’d later offered Danielle something to drink, the other two demanded he get them something as well. Texting Este usually results in a reply from Danielle and the few times Harry tried to get Alana alone, the other two were right there, speaking up before Alana even had a chance to open her mouth. 

So what it comes down to is that the Haim sisters are protective of each other, especially of Alana. She’s nicknamed Baby for a reason, after all. So Harry figured that if he ever wants to talk to Alana alone or take her out, then he first has to impress her sisters. The prospect of it is horribly daunting, because how do you impress two girls that are as effortlessly cool as Este and Danielle? These girls tour the world together, fight any remaining sexism in music and act as if it’s no big deal. Harry has no idea how to impress them or how to be their friend, has no idea if he’s even cool enough for that.

If they think of Alana as Baby, then Harry has no idea where that leaves him. He’s a year younger than Alana and still a child, basically. 

\--

“So what’s it like? Being a pop star, I mean?” Este asks, lips quirked into a teasing smile, one hand pushing her hair behind her shoulder. “Is it all that it’s cracked up to be? Do you bathe in champagne every day?”

Haim’s in London for promotional duties and was on Nick’s show earlier that day. They then went on to do interviews and photo shoots, but they’re at a party now and their faces are scrubbed clean of all make up. Harry likes seeing them like this. It makes them more human, less intimidating. 

At Este’s question, Harry shrugs, lifting his wine glass to his lips and taking a small sip. 

“Champagne burns a bit. I switched to bathing in a virgin’s tears,” he says, managing to keep a straight face as he looks straight into Este’s eyes. “Keeps my skin and hair silky smooth.” She looks at him and the few seconds of silence seem to stretch on forever, Este arching one of her perfect eyebrows as she’s staring at him. Then all of a sudden, her features relax and she’s laughing, open and loud.

“You, Harry Styles,” she laughs, “Are absolutely ridiculous.” 

And with that, Este cranes her neck and tries to spot Danielle in the small crowd gathered in the pub they’re at. Harry is standing there, still holding onto his wine glass and having no idea if he’s supposed to wait there or walk away, or…

“Danielle!” Este calls out, waving her sister over. “Harry has jokes!”

Harry can feel his cheeks burning and as if the situation isn’t bad enough as it is, Nick slides an arm around Harry’s shoulders, a devious grin on his face.

“Is he telling knock knock jokes again? Because no one should ever have to hear any of those.”

Harry is _this_ close to punching Nick, but instead he rolls his eyes and settles for shoving his elbow into Nick’s side. “You’re jealous, Grimshaw,” he states, covering up any embarrassment by keeping his voice steady and slow, the way it always is. “You’re jealous of my amazing knock knock jokes,” he says, then finally daring to look at Este again. She’s still grinning at Harry and shakes her head again, then motioning in the vague direction of where Danielle or Alana might have been a few minutes ago. “I’m just going to...” she trails off, but then she’s already gone. Harry lets out a deep breath he didn’t even know he was holding and Nick squeezes his shoulder. 

“You made Este Haim laugh. You’re halfway there.”

\--

Harry has no idea what Nick meant when he told him that he was halfway there. Not until a few months later, when Harry has some time off between the European and American legs of the never-ending tour he's on. Haim is in London yet again, this time for a show as part of their own lengthy tour. And that morning, Harry finally figures out how to get on Este and Danielle’s good side. 

They might think of him as a child, but he’s still Harry Styles of One Direction who can get whatever and whoever he wants. The thing is, he doesn’t want just anyone. He wants Alana and not for one night so he can add her to his very short list of people he slept with. No, Harry wants to know where she is and what she’s doing when they’re apart, wants to hear her voice at the end of a long day or yet another transatlantic flight, wants to fly to LA just to see her and to hold her hand, kiss her until her lips are red and cheeks flushed. Maybe that’s all Este and Danielle need to know to actually like him. Maybe they only need to know that Harry has nothing but good intentions where their little sister is concerned. According to Nick, he’s already halfway there.

Then again, there’s a chance that Nick has no idea that Harry’s been texting Danielle every once in a while. It’s just the odd text back and forth when Harry mentions Haim in an interview with some Australian website or Este is asked about what she thinks of One Direction, but it’s nice. It feels like he’s one step closer to talking to Alana, like he’s befriending her keepers before he’s finally allowed to say hi.

 

During the show that night, Harry finds himself staring at Alana as he’s watching from the side of the stage. Nick keeps giving him knowing looks but Harry doesn’t care. He’s too busy watching Alana beat drums and thrash around while playing her guitar, hair flying around. She’s wearing tiny little black shorts and a white t-shirt, the back almost see through from how much she’s sweating underneath the harsh stage lights. But that’s not what he’s focusing on. 

Harry is blown away by the sheer energy that’s radiating off of her, the sound of her voice and the way she’s playing the drums and guitar as if she was born to do this. He can’t get enough of this, of just watching. But then Danielle is announcing their last song of the evening and Este adds that it’s been ‘fucking amazing and we’ll be back soon, London’ and then it’s over. Nick pulls him aside so the girls’ techs can run on stage to start packing up, like Harry has no idea about the logistics of a gig, like he hasn’t played venues ten, maybe twenty times the size of the venue they’re at right now. When he glances over at the man beside him, Nick is giving him an all-knowing look, shaking his head. 

“You, young Harold,” he starts. “Are head over heels for little Alana Haim.”

There’s nothing accusatory in his voice and he’s not even teasing, just stating the obvious, so Harry nods.

“Yeah,” he nods, shrugging helplessly as if he has no idea when this happened, either. “Yeah, I guess so.” 

 

It’s insane, he thinks, as everyone around him is moving around, packing up guitars and mics and a drum kit. He has talked to Este and Danielle, but has never exchanged more than a few words and texts with Alana. He doesn’t think he could, anyway. Harry wants to ask Alana out, wants to woe her over dinner and maybe a game of bowling, but it’s impossible. He has to get past her sisters first. So until then, he’s suffering from a very serious case of long distance crush on Alana Haim.

\--

There’s a chance that Harry’s been over thinking it. He knows he has when another month later, his phone beeps with an incoming text from Este Haim. 

_when’re going to ask Alana out, you idiot?_

\--

“Sorry,” Harry says, laughing awkwardly and scratching the back of his neck. He nearly tripped over his own feet and it’s definitely not the smooth entrance he’d been hoping for. He got Este and Danielle’s blessing and now all he has to do is take Alana to dinner, but even walking into a restaurant is proving to be a challenge. And now that he finally has Alana alone for the foreseeable future, Harry has absolutely no idea what to talk to her about. He’s been so busy trying to impress her sisters, that he’d forgotten to prepare himself for this moment. So he settles for the first thing that comes to mind. A classic, really.

“Hi,” Harry says, smiling as a faint blush creeps up his neck and finally reaches his cheeks. He is so sure that Alana will laugh at him and walk out, but then she’s offering him a shy smile and tucks some of her long hair behind her ear. 

“Hello, Harry Styles,” she smiles right back at him and when did she stop being so intimidating? Harry must have missed something horribly important there. “I’m sorry about my sisters. They can be a bit…” she says, then shrugging helplessly. “They’re a bit much sometimes, I guess.”

Harry nods and smiles, relaxing with each passing second because maybe, just maybe, this will be alright. “I get it, I think,” he offers, scuffing the toe of one of his boots over the floor, glancing down at it for a second. “You’re the youngest, and everything. My sister would be the exact same. Or I guess I have Nick,” he adds as his lips curl into an amused little smile. “He’s probably just as bad as Este and Danielle.”

He is in a boy band, for god’s sake, and just because his friends are amazing doesn’t mean that he is cool, but he can try. At least Alana’s smiling at him as if she’s been waiting for this as long as he is and it’s a start. He can do this.

\--

They split a bottle of red wine, two pasta dishes and a slice of chocolate cake and the world doesn’t end. Alana tells him about her sisters and their parents, about home and tour and her friends back in LA as if she _wants_ Harry to know and make him feel included. In return, Harry tells her about Holmes Chapel and the drinking games he really shouldn’t be playing with Niall, about his own sister and how much Gemma and Este would get along and it’s nice. It’s relaxed instead of awkward or tense and he likes Alana so much.

By the end of the evening, after Harry has paid for dinner and they’re on their way out, Alana tentatively curls her fingers around his as they walk to his car. He promised Este and Danielle that he’d have their sister back at the hotel at midnight, but he has a feeling that they were just teasing. You never know with the Haim sisters, though.

“Can we do this again?” Harry asks, their arms swaying between their bodies as he glances over at Alana with a soft smile on his face. The wine might have something to do with that.

Alana looks over at him with a bright smile, nodding. “How about tomorrow? Want to take me out for breakfast?” She’s asking as if it’s a challenge instead of a simple question. Harry wouldn’t dream of turning this challenge down so he nods before she can retract the offer. 

“Half ten?” he offers as they reach the car. Alana doesn’t let go of his hand as she nods and smiles up at him as if she’s waiting for something. He knows exactly what she’s waiting for, if only because he’s been waiting for the exact same thing for _months_ , but he’s not sure if he’s allowed. Este and Danielle aren’t there, he knows that much, but…

But then Alana arches a very unimpressed eyebrow as she looks up into his green eyes. “Aren’t you going to kiss me?”

He wasn’t. He wasn’t going to kiss her until Alana mentioned it, didn’t think he was allowed to. But now she’s asking and Harry can’t help but duck his head down to brush a soft, barely-there kiss to Alana’s lips. 

“Like that?” Harry asks, lips curling into an amused little smile as he pulls away, laughing as Alana quickly shakes her head, about to protest until.. “I don’t want your sisters to kill me yet. Maybe tomorrow, alright? After breakfast.”

Alana lets out a deep, disappointed sigh and punches Harry in the arm before getting into the car. “I thought you were supposed to reckless and wild, Styles,” she states, sounding completely unimpressed as she stares him down. 

Harry watches her with a fond smile as he gets in the driver’s seat of his black Range Rover, leaning over the console to press a quick kiss to Alana’s lips. “But that’s all you’re getting tonight. I need to ask Este permission for more,” Harry states, teasingly and when Alana punches him again, he can’t help but laugh. He finally got the girl.


End file.
